Daisuke is often perceived as a happy man. Almost naively so. There is little that actually upsets him, and in the rare occasion he actually is upset, it’s seldom noticeable. Daisuke is almost always smiling, laughing, and likes to perceive life in a very positive manner. He’s protective of his friends, even more so of his sacrifice. Daisuke is easily approachable and likes to include everyone as much as possible so that no one is ever left behind. Most people say he’s one of the nicest people they’ve met. That is how the world, his friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and peers see him.

Alone, however, is a completely different story.

When he is alone or with his sacrifice, he is more subdued and quiet. He still smiles and is the more positive of the two, but it’s not nearly to the level that everyone knows it to be. With Naoki, he doesn’t have to pretend because Naoki knows everything about him. There is no need for words or gestures. Having grown up together, they know the other impeccably. Even before their names appeared, Naoki was the only person that Daisuke didn’t have to put on a mask for. That bond has only strengthened through the years, and reinforced once their bond as a unit was created. This is a side of him that no one other than his sacrifice sees. And Daisuke intends to keep it that way.

Heat. Scorching, suffocating, the overwhelming nature of it clinging to his skin, feeling like flames slowly peeling back his flesh layer by layer until only bone remained. The smell of burning wood and charred flesh coating his tongue, blackening his lungs, blocking out the world that slept peacefully around him.

There was no life before that night, because that life was a lie. The smiles, the hugs, the laughter and feeling of comfort and safety was only a facade. Ripped away from him in one cruel, swift stroke and leaving him with nothing.

Clothes, hair, skin, hands…. all coated with what remained of the people he loved before the fire took them away. Clinging to him, tainting him, changing him forever into something he no longer recognized.

And then there was a boy. A boy who seemed far too young to be out when the moon was so high in the sky. The silver beams causing the world to seem so much more magical than he knew it to be, making the boy’s skin glow and eyes piercing. But it was there, in those cobalt eyes that he found…. something. Something he hadn’t understood yet, but knew it was something he needed. So when a pale hand reached out, offering, promising something neither of them understood, Daisuke found himself taking it without a second thought.

That one, small, seemingly harmless hand led to countless faces, countless questions, a sea of demands and expectations that Daisuke wanted nothing more than to escape from. To return to the quiet, to the silence where he belonged. Back into the dark void that Fate had cast him into. For a long time, Daisuke was silent. Not speaking or communicating to anyone. He had become as silent as the graves in which his parents were lain. His silence remained, and the demands, the expectations persisted. It was only upon learning to smile, to laugh, to be something that he wasn’t, that the demands stopped. Almost overnight.

The Otsuka’s were kind, gentle, but strict. And it was through them, and their only son Naoki, that Daisuke realized he could look up again. That the sun was warm and the wind was cool and that he was still here even if the ones from before were not. It was also through them that he learned about the Unit world. He had heard of their world, of the men and women, tied to their masters who controlled them mind, body and soul through his own parents. Through the shadows that came and went often. The faces that came through his memories, the fear that tainted the very air right up until that night…

The facade went on for so long that Daisuke had begun to believe that he truly was a fighter. It wasn’t until Naoki received his name that it became blatantly clear he was not a part of their world. He never was. Another facade, one that he had fallen for so easily. The realization was agony, even if he desperately tried to pass it off as nonchalance. It had been but a child’s dream to be partnered with Naoki. A dream that Daisuke had prayed for every night, hoping it would come to pass only to be denied in the final moments. For a Unit’s name always appeared in pairs, at the same time. And where Naoki's thigh was clearly marked in black ink that would never fade, Daisuke’s remained perpetually bare.

For seven long months, he was forced into a normal human’s school, instead of training to be a fighter for Naoki. Seven months of living a lie, of pretending only to know it amounted to nothing in the grand scheme of things. It was only when Daisuke felt there was no escape to the ever spiraling torment that he received his name.

Hollow

In the exact same spot as Naoki’s. Never had he felt so relieved, nor such a strong sense of belonging as he had with Naoki, with his sacrifice. Daisuke transferred schools, and was finally allowed to train with the younger boy who had come to mean so much to him. But it wasn’t all what it seemed.

It was another layer of the mask, being a fighter. Using words as weapons to take down his opponent. It came easily enough to him, as protecting Naoki had always been something that Daisuke believed to be his burden to bear. And bear it he did. There were other fighters, sacrifices, blanks; people who liked to attack his sacrifice. And Daisuke quickly gained a reputation within the school and the attacks stopped.

His mask still remained. For years, Daisuke was the kind, respectful, charming soul that everyone claimed was too nice to be thrown into a fighter’s role. To the world, even to his opponents, he was merciful and caring, forgiving and gentle. Someone who never got annoyed, or mad, who always countered aggression with affection and a kind word.

But Naoki….. Naoki saw past his facade. Always. Through the mask that the world had come to accept as his true nature. Those piercing eyes saw everything, no matter how hard Daisuke tried to hide it from his sacrifice. And really there was no reason to, was there? Because with Naoki, Daisuke could be what he truly was.

With Naoki, he could feel again. The pain, the emptiness, it didn’t vanish because why would it? Only it was redirected, lightened. A burden now bore by two people instead of simply one. Daisuke was everything that he knew Naoki needed, just as Naoki was everything he needed. Companionship, reassurance, stability. And yet nothing ever made him forget about the six letters branded into his flesh.

This is what he was. What he always would be. And with Naoki at his side, there was no desire for that to ever change.

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Dislikes: Processed Coffee, Soda, heat. Fears: NightlightsLanguages: Japanese, EnglishLikes: The sound of rain fall, quiet, Swimming, Sushi, Jasmine TeaLoathes: heat, Loves: Fresh fish, sitting around a fire, laying out in the sun, waterParents/Guardians/Family: His parents died when he was young. He has no other siblings. Strengths: His endurance, the ability to remain calm in a stressful situation, the keen ability to make even the shyest person open up and feel safe. Weakness: Spicy food.

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